Indicator.



A. SUNDH.

INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR.17, 1905.

937,555. Patented Oct. 19,1909.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST SUNDI-I, YONKERS, NEW YORK.

INDICATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUe sT SUNDH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Yonkers, county of Westchester, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to indicators ar- I ranged to be electrically operated, and one of its objects is the provision of a simple and efiicient construction for operating an indicator, such, for example, as a street indicator.

I have herein shown circuits and connections for my invention when applied to an electric railway car, but obviously the indicator-operating mechanism may have a general application in practice, and other systems of circuits and connections than those herein shown may be used to control the operation of said indicator.

More particularly it is the object of the present invention to provide a single electromagnet and reversing mechanism for an actuating pawl of simple construction.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel combination of elements being pointed out in the hereto appended claims.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters indicate like parts, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of an indicator; Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the entire structure; and Fig. 3 shows a system of circuits and connections for the indicator-electro-magnet when the indicator is used in an electric railway car.

The indicator comprises two drums or spools 21, 21, upon which is rolled a band or ribbon 22 which carries on it any desired symbol as the names of stops or stations of a railway train. The face of the indicator may be provided with fixed letters, if desired, with which the movable symbols are adapted to be read. An example of this is shown in Fig. 1 where the words Next stop street, are shown placed on the front side or face of the indicator leaving a space in which the movable symbols on the ribbons 22 can be placed.

It is sometimes desired to have the face of the indicators illuminated, which may be accomplished by providing incandescent lamps, as indicated at 23 on the front part I Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application filed April 17, 1905.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

Serial No. 256,019.

of the casing. A lamp may also be placed inside of the casing to illuminate the ribbon or the characters thereon. In Fig. 2 a lamp 23 is shown mounted on the back part of the casing and is provided with a reflector 99. The ribbon 22 may be made'of any desired material and the symbols placed thereon in any desired manner.

The mechanism for moving the ribbon will now be described.

The drums 21, 21 are suitably mounted on shafts in fixed bearings and at the desired distance from each other. The sprocket wheels 24, 24; fixed to the drums 21, 21 are adapted to rotate therewith and motion is transmitted from one to the other of said sprocket wheels by means of an endless sprocket chain 25. The arrangement insures simultaneous movement of the two drums or spools at the proper relative speed, so that, as the ribbon is unwound positively from one spool, it is wound positively onto the other. The symbols are placed on the ribbon at intervals corresponding to the length of steps of the pawl and ratchet mechanism hereinafter described.

As shown in Fig. 2, only one magnet 30 is used to effect the movement of the indicating ribbon in either direction. In this case the rod 36 which is connected to the lower end of the core or plunger of the solenoid, is arranged to carry a pawl 37 pivoted at 93. This pawl is arranged to engage with the pins 38 projecting laterally from one side of the lower spool 21. Back of this pawl a movable mechanical stop 39 is mounted on an extension on the rod 36. This stop in this instance has the shape of a bell-crank lever, the arms of which may be moved from the positions shown in Fig. 2 to another posit-ion 90 therefrom by means of the spring-pressed button 96. It is arranged to be moved in the reverse direction by means of a similar push button 95, and may be held by friction in the position in which it has been placed. The pawl 37 which is pivoted on the rod 36 at 93 is normally held in substantially central position in this instance by the springs 92. In the position of the stop or reversing lever 39,.shown in Fig. 2, no movement of the spools 21 can be produced when the rod 36 is moved upwardly by the electro-magnet as the pawl 37 will simply slip by the pin 38 immediately above the same, but when the core or plunger and rod descend, the weight of the latter will effect a movement of each drum in a clockwise direction, inasmuch as the arm 90 of the reversing stop 39 will prevent the pawl 37 from slipping by the pin with which it engages. The indicating ribbon is therefore moved upwardly. In order to secure a proper vertical movement of the rod 36, the latter should be suitably guided, and in this instance, I have shown the lower end thereof as passing into the recess 100 of the block 101. Upon rocking the stop 39, by pressing on the button 96, the arm 91 moves into such position that it will cause the pawl 37 to act on the pins 38 to move the ribbon downwardly when the rod 36 is moved upwardly by the energization of the electro-magnet. Then, upon movement of the rod 36 in the reverse direction, that is, in a downward direction, the pawl 37 will slip by the pins 38 and the pawl will therefore not operate to move the spools 21. It will be seen that no electric reversing switch is used when this form of indicator is employed, as the mechanical stop 39 either alone by friction with or without the push buttons 95, 96, performs the functions of reversing the movement of the indicator ribbon 22 when the electromagnet is intermittently energized.

The diagram illustrated in Fig. 3 comprises circuits and connections suitable for the electro-magnet in the'indicator shown in Fig. 2. Preferably one indicator, is placed at either end of the car, each comprising an electro -magnet having a single solenoid. These solenoids may be connected by the conductor 43 to the contact shoe 14 riding on the conductor or third rail 13. The solen-' oids are connected in parallel and a circuit through them is completed through the contact 44 at the left or that at the right, and the manual switch-lever at the left or that at the right, each of the latter being connected to the ground or a return conductor to the source of electrical supply. The electro-magnets of the indicators may be automatically operated by a fixed cam 57 being engaged by the roller 56 pivoted at, 55 to the outer end of the lever 53 pivoted at 54, and carrying the insulated contact-member 52 of a switch 50, the other member of which is fixed relatively to the car. WVhen the switch 50 is closed, a circuit is completed from the conductor rail 13, contact shoe 14, conductors 43, solenoids 30, contact 44, at the right, lever 53 in engagement with said contact 44, and thence through the switch 50 to the return.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims, and I desire, therefore, not to be limited to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to have protected by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The combination with a carrier, of drums on which said carrier is arranged to be wound and unwound, motion-transmitting mechanism between said drums, a ratchet carried by one of said drums, a single electro-magnet, a rod connected to the core or plunger of said electro-magnet and movable therewith, a, pawl mounted on said rod and associated with said ratchet, means for holding said pawl in a predetermined position normally, a stop device for said pawl for determining the direction in which the latter shall move the carrier when the rod is moved, and illuminating means back of the carrier.

2. The combination .with a carrier, of drums rotatably mounted and supporting said carrier so that as the drums move, the carrier is wound upon one and unwound from the other, a single electro-magnet having a vertical movable core, a ratchet on one of said drums, a .pawl connected with said core, and adjustable means for limiting the movement of said pawl in one direction and thereby holding it in position to operate the ratchet so that when the electro-magnet moves the pawl in one direction with the said core, the carrier shall be moved one step, but when the pawl moves in the opposite direction the drum shall remain stationary. V

,3. The combination with a carrier, of drums on which; said carrier is arranged to be wound and unwound, a single electromagnet including a movable core, a rod rigidly connected to said core, a pawl'mounted on said rod, centering means for saidpawl, and a mechanical device associated with said pawl for determining the direction of movement of the carrier.

4. The combination with a carrier, of drums on which said carrier is arranged to be wound and unwound, an electro-magnet including a movable core, a rod connected to said core, a pawl mounted on said rod, means for normally holding said pawl in central position, a ratchet on one ofsaid drums, means for limiting the movement of the pawl when said rod moves in onejdirection but notin the other, and means for remeans is operated, when the carrier shall be moved in the opposite direction upon deenergization of said magnet. V I

5. The combination with -a carrier of drums for said carrier, an electro magnet including a movablecore or plunger, a rod attached to said core or plunger, a pawl near the lower endof said rod, means for normally holding said pawl in central position, a ratchet on one of said drums with which said pawl is arranged to co-act to move said drums and carrier step by step when the magnet is energized or deenergized, a bellcrank lever, one arm of which limits the movement of said pawl so'that the ratchet will be operated only when the said rod is moved upwardly by the energization of the magnet, and means for changing the position of said bell-crank lever so that said ratchet shall be operated to move the carrier only in the opposite direction when the magnet is deenergized and said pawl moves to normal position.

6. The combination with a carrier, of drums rotatably mounted and supporting the carrier, a ratchet associated with one of said drums, an electromagnet having a movable core, an arm connected to the core for rectilinear movement, a pawl pivoted to said arm, means for yieldingly holding the pawl perpendicular to the direction of movement of said rod and 'with one end adjacent the ratchet, and stops for the pawl, one of which is movable into position to prevent the pawl from being moved beyond said perpendicular position in one direction, and the other of which is movable into position to prevent movement beyond the perpendicular in the opposite direction.

In witness whereof, I have signed my name to this specificationin the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

AUGUST SUNDI-I.

Witnesses W. H. BRADY, FRANK T. BROWN. 

